Dance of the Dragon
by Absol Master
Summary: A symphony in four movements. The tale of Ninian's life - of her desperate search for freedom and happiness, and of the talent she suddenly discovered, when she ran from her old life - a talent in dancing.


My first poem that is this long. I've been working on it quite long…hope it's up to standard. The story of Ninian's life.

(Dance of the Dragon is actually a piece of piano music I composed for my best friend. It's very short.)

* * *

Dance of the Dragon

_first movement_

Dance.

-

I dance because it is my job.

I dance, for talents are to be shared.

It isn't just something I do when I feel down

Not just something I do for enjoyment

-

Or maybe it is.

It did start that way.

-

My past was a frigid waste of ice.

It was a world like a glass case

I was only to display what was desired

Never show my true colours

Never do what I wish

Never fly free

-

Rules, they bound me down like ropes

Tied me to an ice-cold world

Beneath stone and over a misted pool

In which I was to divine our twisted fate

-

It was a world made of dark metal bars

It held me in a grip that it wouldn't relinquish

Not once in a misty thousand years

For that is how long my job would last

How long _I _would last

Reading divinations off water for the rest of my life

-

Never once did I give a complaint

But never once did the true voice in my heart quieten

Just as the water of my stone pool was never still.

-

In the plain silver water my grim face stared back

Pale, for I saw the sun only thrice a year

Thin, for only my brother brought food for me.

-

_I'm so sorry_

I wished to say it unto myself, as if it would heal me

But I would not receive it

My ears and mind were too weary of the world

Too tired to hear my self-ward regrets

Too much hardened by my cold little world

-

Everything…

Everything was pristine, beautiful, perfectly-made

My home, the shrine—the quintessence of perfection

-

But no one would see how broken and torn it was

How dark and imperfect the messy shrine was

How I saw it.

* * *

_second movement_

Like the brush of golden sunlight

A delicate butterfly wing against my cheek

An explosion of glittering starburst in my heart

Joy was the world of light and happiness, fading

Fading from memory, deep buried under sorrow

Icy tears in a pool of blue light

-

I had only one talent, one skill, one use of my life

Others saw it as a gift that I was to cherish

But what was there to love about it?

It was only a binding chain, a lock of steel

One I could never break or destroy

-

Only one talent. One reason for my life.

A non-diverging one-way path to the waterfall

-

And a wish to shine.

A wish that these rules hadn't been placed

On my life, my love, my land

A wish that my soul could fly

And see the sun

And never cry again

-

I ran.

The mountains and snow and frosty wind

Welcomed me into their world

As my footsteps carried me into a gale and

A bright shining skylight above the world

-

I found my mother's ribbon

It was like a shimmering river in my hand

Like a piece of sky had been trapped—

I now held it, soul brimming with joy

-

And I danced.

I danced for my life,

For everything I had had to trap within myself

All those dark unending years behind me…

-

For the beautiful world that spun around me

All the light that had suddenly surrounded me

-

Joy!

I was a bird that had flown free.

I did have another talent.

-

I was the dance, my brother was the music

It was our way of showing gratitude to the world

And together, we were

I danced for joy. It started that way.

* * *

_third movement_

But joy was not to last

An ephemeral veil of illusion

A world that one creates for oneself

But doesn't truly exist

Because there can never be such a thing

_Perfect joy_

-

Even as I watched, the world darkened around me

The wings I had spread wilted like petals

And I was trapped once more

By the anger of the world

By a hidden terror

And the mysteries of my life I had yet to solve

-

My brother and I could hide no longer

We thought we would finally die

Then we heard that sweet, coaxing call from the gate

That promised us joy and warmth

And a refuge from the searching hands around us

-

With my mother's ribbon, a little piece of hope

And the flute that my brother had made himself

We took our hearts and hopes

And fled through the gate.

-

What beauty, we thought!

There he stood—our father

Welcomed us with loving hands

We had found that warmth that we had sought

So long

-

Or so we thought.

It was a fine beginning

He welcomed us to his handsome abode

Cared for us as any father would

He told us tales of his wounded eye,

And of this evil man named Athos

Over whom he swore to triumph.

-

His words were like golden honey

And we took it all in without any doubt

Sweet to our appetites for comfort

-

But one day

I danced for him, while my brother played

And suddenly, is eyes turned to fire

The world seemed to fall away into an abyss

And the sky in the window was stained black

-

He threw us into darkness, took my ribbon

Trapped again,

Fearful again,

Left without one half of our lives

Silently I cried, whispering useless apologies

To the unhearing ears of the gods.

* * *

_fourth movement_

Then _he _found us.

He returned my ribbon, and the flute to my brother

Carried us to a home, which would soon become ours

-

I was afraid to place my trust in him, after everything

But his eyes were truthfully kind

He watched me dance, my brother play

And applauded us heartily—

And at once, I gave him my trust.

-

I never thought that my life would change this way

I never believed that light could return—

But light was not to last.

-

We were thrust into the thick of war by force

Suddenly the tranquillity had vanished

The world was thrown back into chaos

And I lost the joy I had suddenly gained

-

Metal

_Slash_

Blood

Blood…

Death.

Sudden death.

-

I was so afraid.

The world was empty

My soft voice echoed back from unknowns,

While all those whom I had come to know

Were fighting

Fighting their hearts and spirits out

For those who could never fight—

-

Me.

_Me._

-

Tears.

Hate.

Clenching my fist, ribbon in hand,

I cursed my helplessness.

I cursed my tears, for they were useless.

Not in this war-torn land!

I would never be of use

-

I was just that weak dragon child again

Sitting at the edge of water,

Doing _nothing._

-

But then they turned to me as they returned

Weary and bloodied, as they trudged back

Footsteps heavy on the ground

-

And they asked me to dance.

-

So I danced for them, of hope, of dreams

Of things that the battlefield had robbed from them

Of their homes and their families

Of pasts that are to be forgotten

Of new starts and bright futures

-

And they smiled again.

It worked magic, the way

The sun returned to their smiles

-

From pain, to struggle, to joy—

I could see many things in that pool of water,

In that life I once had, trapped in stone—

But I could never have seen this life laid out for me.

-

It is my new job—dancing

Not a hobby anymore

Not a something I do for enjoyment.

It is a duty, just as my old job was,

It is a talent that I must share for the good of all.

-

But it is a job I do with true joy

And a spirit that will forever fly free.

* * *

I'm not too clear about what Nergal did to Nils and Ninian, or how they got out of his clutches. So could someone tell me?


End file.
